Tag Archives: halloween blogfest

News & Contests

Halloween Scarefest Blog Hop

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UPDATE: THE LINKY WILL BE OPEN THROUGH HALLOWEEN! Add your stories now!

The day is here!

How to participate (and rules)
1. The theme is FEAR. Post a short scene (400 words or less) with a character who is afraid. Scared. Terrified. Petrified.

2. You may write a new scene on the topic, OR you may post a scene from your WIP or book. This includes completed and published works.

3. All scenes should be clean (i.e. no sex, limited violence and language).

4. Post your scene TODAY or any time this weekend, and add it to the Mr. Linky BELOW. Be sure to link your post back to the blogfest here (http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/) so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

Want the badge? Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

<a href="http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/" title="Halloween Scarefest. Photo by William Warby" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/aiscarefestsmall1.png" width="300" alt="halloween scarefest badge" /></a>

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

The Linky!

Use your name (or your name@your blog’s name, or your blog’s name), and the link to your post (i.e. http://myblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-post.html) and NOT your blog (i.e. http://myblog.blogspot.com).

Read, comment and share!

Blogfest badge photo by William Warby

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Works

Façade of Fear

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It’s the Halloween Scarefest! Post a scene, 400 words of less, of a character who’s afraid (and see the blogfest post) to join in!

This scene is from Façade (you can read the award-winning first chapter here), about two-thirds of the way through the novel.

Setting the scene: Katya Mikhailova is the Soviet cultural attaché in Paris. After she was injured in a bombing, she briefly worked with the police and an American liaison for her own reasons—but she gave them a false name so they wouldn’t know about her position at the embassy. Now she’s tricked them into returning her to the embassy before they could find out her identity.

But the American isn’t letting her get away that easily.

Please note this is basically an unedited rough draft!

As soon as the door latched behind me, a deep sense of unease sent my stomach plummeting. The hair at the nape of my neck stood at attention. Something wasn’t right here. Everything looked the same as when I left, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on that put me on my guard, a sharp edge to the air.

And then the hand clamped over my mouth.

My heart froze. I could almost see myself ready to lash out with elbows and hands and feet—but I forced myself to breathe through the panic. Thinking clearly was the only thing that could get me away from this attacker, not blind luck.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was a shade above a whisper. Frank.

My heartbeat redoubled, but still I fought off the urge to fight back. He hadn’t hurt me yet, and he’d just said he wasn’t planning to. No reason to change that by trying to use force.

I shook my head to free my mouth, and Frank moved his hand a centimeter. I stared straight ahead, unwilling to turn and look at him. I spiked my tone with sarcasm. “What took you so long?”

“You’re going to have to explain yourself,” he said.

“Explain what? That I couldn’t trust you to keep me safe anymore?”

“No, not that, Miss Mikhailova.”

The chill of danger in the air finally leached into my veins. I looked to the mirror above the vanity. My lips were still stained red from the beet borshch, but the rest of my face was as pallid as death.

He’d found out the truth and he’d come here to kill me.

Read the rest of the Halloween Scarefest Entries!

Picture by Valentin Serov

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
News & Contests

Halloween Blogfest Coming Up!

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If you’ve been in a store in the last six weeks, I’m sure you know Halloween is coming up. And to celebrate, I’m hosting a Halloween blogfest! Yep, here’s your chance to find an automatic topic, and get lots of visitors to your blog—and find great new blogs to read yourself! That’s right, it’s a HALLOWEEN SCAREFEST!

How to participate (and rules)
1. The theme is FEAR. Post a short scene (400 words or less) with a character who is afraid. Scared. Terrified. Petrified.

2. You may write a new scene on the topic, OR you may post a scene from your WIP or book. This includes completed and published works.

3. All scenes should be clean (i.e. no sex, limited violence and language).

4. Post your scene on Friday, October 28, 2011, and add it to the Mr. Linky on my post that day. Be sure to link your post back to the blogfest here (http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/) so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

Want to sign up? Just leave a comment on this post if you’re planning to participate (not required, but appreciated!). The official sign up will be posted on here on October 28!

Want the badge? Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

<a href="http://jordanmccollum.com/halloween-scarefest/" title="Halloween Scarefest. Photo by William Warby" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z41/MamaBlogga/aiscarefestsmall1.png" width="300" alt="halloween scarefest badge" /></a>

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

Blogfest badge photo by William Warby

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!